The choice of its gender and number corresponds to the gender and number of the object that is owned. Watch my video lesson below or click here to see it on YouTube. French possessive pronouns vary in gender and in number. Their usage is similar to English, but there are some differences in form. mas… Note that when a possessive replaces a noun altogether (yours, his, hers, etc. http://www.frenchspanishonline.com/magazine/?p=3502 Possessive Pronouns in French to what . Possession is generally indicated by one of three methods in French: 1. There are two different kinds of possessive pronouns in the French language: Regular possessive pronouns (look at the chart above) Contracted possessive pronouns Contracted pronouns with à. French possessive pronouns are the equivalent of mine, yours, its, ours, theirs. Watch for the idiomatic expression, “faire des siennes,” which means “to act up,” “to pull its old tricks”: Le moteur a calé! 3. In French, it’s exactly the other way around… What matter is the number and gender ofthe dog(s), not the owner! tbs-sct.gc.ca. The first one is the determinant le, la, or les. ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/french-possessive-pronouns-1368931. The following table lists the possessive pronouns by the possessor they indicate: possessed singular plural … FRENCH PROGRAM FOR SELF-LEARNERS ‼ Possessive pronouns agree with nouns in number and gender. la tienne. The French possessive adjectives are: mon / ton / son / notre / votre / leur in the masculine singular; ma / ta / sa / notre / votre / leur in the feminine singular; mes / tes / ses / nos / vos / leurs in the plural; Possessive adjectives come before the noun they refer to. The choice of the pronoun corresponds to the grammatical person and the number of the owner. The possessive adjective always comes before the noun which is “owned,” just like in English. Possessive pronouns replace nouns that are modified by a possessive adjective or other possessive construction or idea. les tiens. tbs-sct.gc.ca. instead of u sing pronouns such as he and she (in French il, elle, ils, and ell es), and possessive adjectives such as his, [...] and her (in French, son or sa). Masculine and Feminine French Nouns ~ Noms, French Superlative Adverbs - Adverbes Superlatifs, French Comparative and Superlative Adverbs, It's 'Ces Filles' in French, Not 'Cettes', 'Lequel,' a Difficult French Pronoun, Explained, Learn to Use the French Word 'Tout' and Its Variations, Learn About French Demonstrative Pronouns (Pronoms démonstratifs), French Demonstrative Adjectives: Adjectifs Démonstratifs. ), au lieu d'ut iliser des pronoms tels que il et el le, il s et e ll es (et, en anglais, « he. something belongs. )J’aime bien notre maison, mais franchement, j’envie la leur! Ce caniche appartient à Louise. The contractions are explained below in parentheses. As you noticed from the table above, French possessive pronouns are composed of two words. Possessive pronouns Possessive pronouns – le mien – la mienne – les miennes = mine How do possessive pronouns work in French? (That poodle belongs to Louise.). (2020, August 26). mine. )J’ai fait la connaissance de tes grands-parents. How Possessive Adjectives accord with their nouns. The person refers to the owner or possessor. This means that there are different possessive adjectives for masculine, feminine, and plural nouns. What are French Pronouns? (I have my likes, and she has hers. )Ce caniche appartient à Louise. 2. la mienne any feminine singular nominal group. The gender and number of the object possessed determine which form to use. As the possessive adjective in French is easy to use, so is the pronoun . While the plural possessive pronouns have just three: Masculine singular: le nôtre, le vôtre, le leur Feminine singular: la nôtre, la vôtre, la leur Plural: les nôtres, les vôtres, les leurs "How and When to Use French Possessive Pronouns." le mien. For forming contracted possessive pronouns correctly you have to know that in general à combined with the definite article le becomes au, and à with les becomes aux. But it has to be the third person pronoun to agree with the owner. Must agree with the possessed noun in number and sometimes gender. la mienne. les miens. Regarde, la voiture de quelqu'un est en train d'être mise à la fourrière. A possessive pronoun can be used to replace it when it is used together with a noun in a … If we replace the possessive adjective and noun here with a possessive pronoun, that sentence would read: Il aime la sienne (again, agrees with the feminine, singular la voiture). Placed directly in front of a noun or an adjective + noun. Possessive adjective + noun can be replaced by a possessive pronoun. Possessive pronouns are the words that replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives. If you consider the phrase "his book," "his" is a possessive adjective modifying the noun "book." 1. le mien can replace any masculine singular nominal group. Possession is generally indicated by one of three methods in French: 1. Possessive adjectives are the words used . Marie aime son livre aussi.Marie likes her book too. So in the sentence, Il aime sa voiture ("He loves his car"), the possessive adjective sa agrees with what it modifies: the feminine, singular la voiture ("the car"). So, when talking about a woman, you’d say “son chien” (her male dog). In the following table, the choice between the singular or plural form and between the masculine or feminine form depends on the number and gender of the item possessed. It’s counterintuitive, it sounds weird in English, but it is correct in French. Pierre aime sa voiture aussi.Pierre likes his car too. In French, however, because an apostrophe is only used to replace a letter that is omitted due to elision, 's is not used to show possession. The gender and number of the possessive pronoun must agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed, not that of the possessor. In French, you need to focus on the dog! Pronouns are words that we use to replace nouns in a sentence, and they can be quite tricky to get the hang of. (That book is mine! By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Gender and Number Agreement: the Owner is Irrelevant, Possessive Pronoun: Agreement Plus the Definite Article, Don't Forget Preposition-Article Contractions, French Possessive Pronouns, by Person, Gender, Number. Comme en français et en allemand, les pronoms possessifs ont différentes formes selon le nombre et le genre du nom auquel ils se rapportent. The pronoun that would replace this whole phrase is "his," as in: Which book do you want? Pierre aime son livre.Pierre likes his book. French possessive adjectives are directly placed in front of the noun or adjective. By possessive adjectives, the forms of which agree in number and, when the forms allow, in gender with the object they modify: mon / ma / meston / ta / tesson / sa / sesnotre / nosvotre / vosleur / leurs, J’ai perdu mes clés. ‼ Possessive pronouns are always preceded by definite… In English, the choice of the pronoun only depends on the gender of who’s possessing ( his, hers, theirs), and they don’t vary in number. Let's examine the four ways to say 'mine.' (I have lost my keys. Since in French each noun is either feminine or masculine, both parts of the possessive pronouns have to agree in gender and number with the noun they replace. Because la montre is feminine, you have to use a feminine possessive pronoun. List of French Pronouns. (They are coming in their car. )J’espère que vous pourrez être des nôtres samedi soir. In French, the possessive pronouns are determined by the definite article le, la, les ("the"), depending on the gender and number of their referent; nonetheless, they are considered pronouns. )Ils viennent dans leur voiture. The rules are different in French and in English. I want his. In French, possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives must agree, in number and gender, with the thing(s) being possessed. By être à + noun (or disjunctive pronoun) or appartenir à + noun (or disjunctive pronoun): Ce livre est à moi! in place of . ThoughtCo. or . The following table shows the forms of French … Learn more about possessive, demonstrative, interrogative and regular adjectives and master their tricky p… (That book is mine!) In Il aime sa voiture and Il aime la sienne, we use the third person pronoun because person has to agree with the the owner or possessor, which is il. Think about the logic of this and you'll see it makes perfect sense. Some of the worksheets displayed are Name date grammar work possessive pronouns, Possessive pronouns, Day 17 possessive and demonstrative adjectives, Pronouns subject object possessive pronouns and, Subject and object pronouns and possessive adjectives, Norwegian possessive pronouns phrases words or suffixes, French … French and English possessive pronouns are very similar in usage. (I met your grandparents.). The French possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives are slightly more complex than their English counterparts. The second one marks the possessive. They have to correspond with the gender and number of the possessed noun. ), it’s a pronoun, not an adjective. The possessive adjectives son, sa, and ses can translate to his, her or its depending on who is in possession of the particular noun.. Marie aime sa voiture.Marie likes her car. For instance, in English, the possessive pronouns are a mine, yours, his, her, its, ours, theirs : It’s my fault not yours! You have to change your focus. French possessive pronouns are used to replace nouns so that you can indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/french-possessive-pronouns-1368931. Many translated example sentences containing "possessive pronoun" – French-English dictionary and search engine for French translations. Used in place of an article, not with one. tbs-sct.gc.ca. Look, someone's car is getting towed! Ce livre est à lui - This book is his C'est un ami à moi - He's a friend of mine Characteristics of French possessive adjectives. In French, possessive pronouns vary in form depending on the gender and number of the noun they replace. ThoughtCo. ), One North College StNorthfield, MN 55057USA, French and Francophone Studies pages maintained by. By être à + noun (or disjunctive pronoun) or appartenir à + noun (or disjunctive pronoun): Ce livre est à moi! (I hope you will be able to join us [be one of us] this Saturday evening. (I like our house, but frankly, I am jealous of theirs!). Possession, Possessive Pronouns. The big difference is the agreement issue; as we discussed, the French possessive pronoun must match the noun being replaced in number and gender and the appropriate definite article must be added. When the possessive pronoun is preceded by the prepositions à or de, the preposition contracts with the definite article le, la, or les. There are a total of 15 different French possessive adjectives depending on the combination of possessor and … We have handled two examples where the gender was relevant. By possessive pronouns, the forms of which agree in number and, when the forms allow, in gender with the noun they replace: le mien / la mienne / les miens / les miennesle tien / la tienne / les tiens / les tiennesle sien / la sienne / les siens / les siennesle nôtre / la nôtre / les nôtresle vôtre / la vôtre / les vôtresle leur / la leur / les leurs, J’ai mes préférences, et elle a les siennes. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-possessive-pronouns-1368931 (accessed April 16, 2021). In French the definite article le, la, les is always used with a possessive pronoun. How to express possession in French video part 2/2 (mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, yours, theirs) yours. In terms of agreeing in gender and number, the owner's gender and number are irrelevant. How and When to Use French Possessive Pronouns. Showing top 8 worksheets in the category - French Possessive Pronoun. This way you’ll have … French possessive pronouns made easy! Cette voiture fait encore des siennes! Note that the singular possessive adjectives have four forms each: The plural possessive adjectives have three forms: French possession Tu versus vous Expression: À la vôtre, ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. http://LFWA.COM presents French Masculine Singular POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS: mine, yours, his, hers, etc. These forms are spelled out in the table of possessive pronouns at the bottom of this page. . For what it’s worth, here is the list of French pronouns. In English we may use an apostrophe and an ‐ s to show that something belongs to someone. Possessive à: The preposition à is used with the verb être in front of stressed pronouns in order to emphasize the ownership of the object. French uses a different word order than the one we are accustomed to, and possessive adjectives and pronouns also follow a different … (The motor has stalled! The possessive pronouns have, as in French and German, different forms depending on the the number and gender of the noun. When it comes to French pronouns, the most commonly used pronouns are personal pronouns, but even in that category there are many kinds that you need to learn in order to master the French language. In French, possessive pronouns indicate both the possessor and the number and the gender of the object possessed: le mien indicates that the possessor is 'I' and that the possession is masculine singular. ThoughtCo. It is very similar to Spanish, and they are used in the same cases, to replace something that we have already spoken about, and that expresses possession. By possessive pronouns. to whom . le tien. French adjectives change to reflect the gender and number of the noun they’re describing. articles to indicate . French Possessive Adjectives - Adjectifs possessifs. ThoughtCo. We don't care about the number and gender of the person, only the number and gender of the thing being possessed: la voiture. Like possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns in French are assigned according to the gender and number of the noun and who’s doing the possessing. This car is acting up again! 2. (That poodle belongs to Louise.) "How and When to Use French Possessive Pronouns." les miennes. In this case la montre is singular, so we have to use la sienne. Possessive pronouns agree in number and gender with the noun they represent. 2. However, possessive pronouns are actually a little more involved because plural possessive pronouns are also differentiated by gender. The Possessive Adjectives can be divided into 3 groups - one for each group of grammatical person (1) My/Our: mon, ma, mes nos, notre (2) Your: ton, ta, tes, vos, votre (3) He/She/It/Their: son, sa, ses, leur, leurs. Jean is a man, but the watch ( la montre) is feminine.